a good life04.14.2010

My great-uncle Wilbur Braithwaite passed away this week. There are many stories in print about him, one of which can be found here.

WIlbur was the witness at my wedding when my father and grandfather couldn’t be there. He sent me poetry and coaching advice in high school when I was running. He was one of the first people to send me a congratulatory note on my first book. He was a wonderful man with a warm laugh and a light in his eye and a space in his heart for everyone. If anyone had a good life, it was him. And this was in spite of hardship. He suffered his entire life from wounds sustained in WWII when he was 18. He had other trials. He had a good life because he made it that way.

So many people were touched by Wilbur. I know that I am just one of many who cherished his coaching and his poetry and his kindness. We want to be around goodness. We crave it. We feel better in its light. We all seek a good life, but few of us are unselfish enough to achieve it. Wilbur certainly did.

Thank you for all the comments, you guys. He was truly a remarkable man and I am just one of thousands of people who he treated with incredible kindness. It was a blessing to know him. And Becca, I wish I could write him, but I don’t know how you would ever do someone like that justice.